“I Will Follow You” is the track heard in Apple’s 2016 iPhone 7 “Balloons” commercial. TV Ad Songs identified the ad version as a recording by Toulouse. The choice works because the commercial builds around red balloons carrying expressive-message symbols through streets and open spaces. The music stays restrained while the visual idea keeps moving, which sent plenty of viewers searching for the voice after the ad aired.
The Apple commercial uses Toulouse’s cover
In the iPhone 7 Balloons campaign, Toulouse performs the commercial recording; TBWA/Media Arts Lab handled the agency work, MJZ the production, and Nicolai Fuglsig the direction.
The ad arrived in September 2016, during the launch period for iPhone 7. Rather than using a contemporary pop hit that viewers already associated with another story, the spot used a familiar melody in a less familiar voice. That choice gave the song recognition without making the performer the center of the commercial.
Toulouse was still a relatively private artist at the time. Billboard later described him as a Nigerian-born, New York-based singer and discussed how his version brought fresh attention to the older song.
The title has a longer history than the ad
The song most listeners know as “I Will Follow Him” reached a huge audience through Little Peggy March in 1963. Her version topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks. The composition had already existed in instrumental form as “Chariot,” associated with Franck Pourcel and Paul Mauriat, before English lyrics carried it into American pop.
Peggy March’s own career archive documents her work year by year, including the period when “I Will Follow Him” became the song most closely linked with her name. Apple Music also lists the 1963 I Will Follow Him album, which helps separate the original hit-era release from later covers and remasters.
That history matters when people search “I Will Follow You.” The wording in the Toulouse cover and the wording attached to older recordings can lead listeners to different titles even though they recognize the same melodic family.
Sister Act created another generation of recognition
For many viewers, the melody also recalls the 1992 film Sister Act. The film’s climactic performance used “I Will Follow Him,” giving the song another major cultural life decades after Peggy March’s hit.
That creates an unusual chain of recognition around the iPhone commercial. One viewer may hear a 1960s pop standard. Another may hear the movie. Someone younger may first encounter the tune through Toulouse and Apple, then discover the earlier versions afterward.
The ad therefore did not revive an unknown composition. It reframed a song that had already moved through instrumental pop, a chart-topping vocal recording and film.
Why the commercial version feels different
Toulouse’s performance slows the emotional temperature compared with many earlier versions. The arrangement leaves more open space and puts the vocal close to the listener. The commercial can then use the melody as continuity while the balloons provide the visible motion.
For identification, the key detail is the recording credit rather than a lyric transcription. If you are trying to find the exact ad recording, search for Toulouse rather than assuming the commercial uses Peggy March’s master.
Apple’s iPhone 7 “Balloons” spot is a good example of why TV music searches can get complicated. A few seconds can point to a new cover, an old hit and an even earlier composition at the same time. In this case, “I Will Follow You” leads backward through several decades of pop history while the commercial itself remains firmly tied to Toulouse’s 2016 version.